Emmy Award-winning Feagler & Friends is a lively, weekly half-hour television discussion of local and national issues impacting lives in Northeast Ohio. Hosted by award-winning journalist and former Plain Dealer columnist, Dick Feagler, Feagler & Friends explores the various issues behind today's news. With a changing ensemble of "friends" ranging from journalists to community and political leaders, Feagler & Friends takes on issues from many different perspectives. Always entertaining and never boring, Feagler & Friends is the program for people "in the know" in Northeast Ohio.

Friday, December 5, 2008

Topics: Education, Economy, Politics
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Newsmaker: Susan Goldberg, editor, The Plain Dealer: The city’s daily newspaper terminated 27 employees, many of them in the newsroom, in a cost-cutting move that’s being echoed at newspapers across the country. The papers are trying to get their costs in line with steadily-decreasing revenues, down 11 per cent in 2008 at publicly-held companies. One financial ratings service predicts some cities will lose their daily newspaper.

Roundtable: Mark Naymik, politics reporter, The Plain Dealer; Harry Boomer, reporter, 19 Action News; Brian Tucker, publisher & editorial director, Crain’s Cleveland Business.

Yes, It’s a Recession: Key economists admitted this week that the U.S. economy has fallen into recession. The National Bureau of Economic Research says the recession actually began in December of last year, and there’s no sign no long or how deep it’s going to be. The economy has dropped 1.2-million jobs this year. Congress, meanwhile, continues to wrestle with the question of whether to extend bailouts to the auto industry.

State Budget Mess: The Strickland administration said this week it’ll have to plug a $640-million hole in the state budget for this year, then find ways to save more than $7-billion over the following two years. The declining economy has dried up a portion of the state’s revenue stream and state officials fear Ohioans’ overall paycheck is about to shrink, something that’s never happened. Ted Strickland was among the Governors who met with President-elect Obama this week to request help.

Save National City: When the Treasury started doling out bailout money to financial institutions, Cleveland’s National City was not among the recipients. This forced National City to seek a suitor in Pittsburgh’s PNC. Cleveland-area representatives Steve La Tourette and Dennis Kucinich, hoping at least to preserve some National City jobs, met this week with banking regulators but refused to discuss the outcome of the meeting.

Bail Us Out Too: What’s good for banks and automakers is good for the schools. That’s why the Olmsted Falls schools applied this week for money from the federal bailout pool. Olmsted Falls wants $100-million dollars. Superintendent Todd Hoadley says half the money would pay for more classroom space, the other half would reimburse the system for meeting federal mandates.

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